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Open Recommendations

Department of Education: Preliminary Results Show Strong Leadership Needed to Address Serious Student Aid System Weaknesses
GAO-24-107783
Sep 24, 2024
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6 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should direct the Chief Operating Officer of FSA to (1) expeditiously develop a plan that tailors the agency's guidance on identifying and managing requirements to fit its current incremental deployment approach and (2) implement the plan thereafter. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should direct the Chief Operating Officer of FSA to (1) expeditiously develop a plan that tailors the agency's guidance on system testing to fit its current incremental deployment approach and (2) implement the plan thereafter. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should direct the Chief Operating Officer of FSA to expeditiously (1) develop an FSA policy on standards for IV&V independence and (2) ensure that FPS IV&V agents meet those standards. In developing the policy, FSA should define the degree of technical, managerial, and financial independence required of the personnel or agents performing IV&V. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should direct the Chief Operating Officer of FSA to expeditiously (1) develop an FSA policy requiring that projects determine and document the appropriate scope of IV&V efforts and (2) ensure that the FPS project follows this policy. In developing the policy, FSA should require that projects consider IV&V activities across the acquisition lifecycle. (Recommendation 4)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should expeditiously appoint a permanent chief information officer. (Recommendation 5)
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When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should expeditiously (1) assess the role of the department's and FSA's CIOs in the continuing development of FPS, and (2) based on that assessment, develop and implement a plan for providing the department's CIO with a significant role in the governance and oversight of FPS while clarifying the responsibilities between the departmental and agency CIO. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

FAFSA: Education Needs to Improve Communications and Support Around the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
GAO-24-107407
Sep 24, 2024
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7 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Office of Federal Student Aid The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should develop an outreach strategy to identify and connect with students who did not submit a FAFSA application this cycle (2024-25) due to delays and technical issues, and to provide them with the information they need to apply during the upcoming cycle (2025-26). (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Education will provide information on how it plans to address this recommendation by April 2025.
Office of Federal Student Aid The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should review the FAFSA application process to identify ways to reduce the burden on students and families by addressing the remaining technical issues and streamlining the process for parent or spouse contributors to reduce the total time it takes to complete the FAFSA form. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Education will provide information on how it plans to address this recommendation by April 2025.
Office of Federal Student Aid The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should overhaul its submission process for students whose parent or spouse contributors do not have Social Security numbers to address additional application barriers. This should include making the identity verification process more efficient and determining how to use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to transfer this population's tax data from the IRS. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Department of Education will provide information on how it plans to address this recommendation by April 2025.
Office of Federal Student Aid The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should improve translation services by providing a clear path to support for languages other than English and Spanish through the call center menu and progress toward making the FAFSA application available in languages other than English and Spanish. (Recommendation 4)
Open
The Department of Education will provide information on how it plans to address this recommendation by April 2025.
Office of Federal Student Aid The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should plan for and ensure hiring of sufficient staff to increase capacity at the Federal Student Aid Information Center call center to be able to meet call demand and improve customer service. (Recommendation 5)
Open
The Department of Education will provide information on how it plans to address this recommendation by April 2025.
Office of Federal Student Aid The Chief Operating Officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid should develop a comprehensive plan for providing FAFSA applicants with timely updates on the status of their application and solutions to technical barriers. (Recommendation 6)
Open
The Department of Education will provide information on how it plans to address this recommendation by April 2025.

Special Education: Education Needs School- and District-Level Data to Fully Assess Resources Available to Students with Disabilities
GAO-24-106264
Jul 29, 2024
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Congress Congress should consider granting Education authority under IDEA to collect school- and district-level data on special education and related resources, where feasible, that would help Education fulfill its oversight responsibilities under the law. Such data could include

  • The number of students who receive specific types of special education related services, such as speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other services that may be specified in an individualized education program.
  • The number of staff providing special education services, such as special education teachers, paraeducators, and other staff involved in delivering services to students that may be specified in an individualized education program.
  • Expenditures for special education services, such as for the wages, salaries, and compensation for staff; transportation; technology; professional development; and other related activities.

(Matter for Consideration 1)
Open
As of July 2024, there is no congressional activity on this matter.

K-12 Education: Differences in Student Arrest Rates Widen when Race, Gender, and Disability Status Overlap
GAO-24-106294
Jul 08, 2024
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights revise the Civil Rights Data Collection to collect arrest and referral data, by race, for students with disabilities served under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. (Recommendation 1)
Open
Education agreed with this recommendation. The agency said it would reconsider collecting data on students receiving services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, disaggregated by race when it seeks approval and obtains stakeholder feedback for the 2025-2026 data collection. We will monitor the progress of this effort.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights take necessary steps to disclose the known limitation in its arrest data for the 2021–2022 school year Civil Rights Data Collection. This could include, for example, confirming and disclosing which definitions school districts used or noting that arrest data for that year is not comparable among districts. (Recommendation 2)
Open
Education agreed with this recommendation. We will monitor the agency's efforts to disclose the known limitation in its arrest data for the 2021-2022 school year Civil Rights Data Collection.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights clearly communicate any future changes to data on arrests and referrals to law enforcement in the Civil Rights Data Collection before the start of the school year for which districts are to collect data. (Recommendation 3)
Open
Education agreed with this recommendation. We will monitor their efforts to clearly communicate any future changes to data on arrests and referrals to law enforcement in the Civil Rights Data Collection before the start of the school year for which districts are to collect data.
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